Poetry Foundation’s Winter/Spring 2018 Events

CHICAGO – The Winter/Spring 2018 events season begins a new year of programming at the Poetry Foundation. In January, Jamaal May will read at the inaugural installment of the John Barr Reading Series, named for the Foundation’s first president. Later in the season, Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, the founders of Cave Canem—a home for the many voices of African American poetry—will visit for a conversation about the organization’s legacy and future. Javier Zamora will read in one of many national events taking place as part of the Poetry Coalition’s 2018 theme, “Where My Dreaming and My Loving Lie: Poetry & the Body.”

For National Poetry Month in April, the Foundation will offer a full calendar of poetry, from the young stars of the ChiTeen Lit Fest to joint performances by the Apollo Chorus of Chicago and former US Poet Laureate Kay Ryan. There will be multiple celebrations in April as well, including the sixth Young People’s Poetry Day with a reading by Young People’s Poet Laureate Margarita Engle, the sixth annual Middle Eastern Poetry Festival in collaboration with the Iraqi Mutual Aid Society, and the Chicago Public Library Poetry Fest. These are only a sampling of the exciting Poetry Foundation programs this season, so plan to experience more poetry in the coming year.

Visitors to the Foundation may view here i am in the Gallery during regular hours, Monday–Friday 11:00 AM–4:00 PM.

Except when otherwise noted, the following events are free and open to the public on a first come, first served basis at the Poetry Foundation, 61 West Superior Street, Chicago. More information is available at poetryfoundation.org/events. Images are available upon request.

January

Poetry & ArtExhibition Opening: Ava Kadishson Schieber: here i am
Wednesday, January 10, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Poet and artist Ava Kadishson Schieber gives a reading to celebrate the opening of here i am. Kadishson Schieber, who was born Jewish in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, in 1926 and survived the Shoah in hiding, is the author of the multi-genre collections Present Past (2016) and Soundless Roar (2002). here i am highlights her poems and illustrations and includes personal items that illuminate the evolution of her art alongside historical events. The evening will include a musical performance by cantor Andrea Rae Markowicz and light refreshments.

CelebrationsDrinking Gourd Poetry Prize: Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
Thursday, January 11, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Celebrate Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, whose first chapbook, DULCE, is the winner of the 2017 Drinking Gourd Poetry Prize, a first book award for poets of color. Castillo is a poet, anvessayist, a translator, and an immigration advocate. He is the author of Cenzontle, which Brenda Shaughnessy chose as the winner of the 2017 A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize and will be published by BOA Editions in 2018. Castillo was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, and immigrated at the age of five with his family to the California Central Valley. His memoir, Children of the Land, is forthcoming from HarperCollins. The evening includes a musical performance by Trio Alma Jarocha de Chicago.Cosponsored with the Northwestern Poetry & Poetics Colloquium

The Open Door ReadingsTina Boyer Brown & Kenyatta Rogers
Tuesday, January 16, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
The Library & Gallery are open to the public until 7:00 PM.
The Open Door series presents work from Chicago’s new and emerging poets and highlights the area’s outstanding writing programs. Each hour-long event features readings by two Chicagoland writing program instructors and two of their current or recent students. Tina Boyer Brown and Kenyatta Rogers teach poetry at the Chicago High School for the Arts.

Harriet Reading SeriesCedar Sigo
Thursday, January 18, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
The Harriet Reading Series features talks, performances, and readings by poets who have appeared on Harriet, the Poetry Foundation’s blog. The series presents both established and emerging poets who find innovative approaches to the craft of poetry. Cedar Sigo is the author of the full-length collections Royals (2017), Language Arts (2014), and Stranger in Town (2010) and editor of There You Are: Interviews, Journals, and Ephemera, by Joanne Kyger. He lives in Poulsbo, Washington.

The John Barr Reading SeriesJamaal May
Thursday, January 25, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
The John Barr Reading Series, through the generosity of the Poetry Foundation’s first president, annually presents one or two poets of extraordinary accomplishment and promise. Jamaal May, whose reading launches the series, is the author of Hum (2013), The Big Book of Exit Strategies (2016), and two chapbooks, The God Engine and The Whetting of Teeth. He has won a Beatrice Hawley Award and an ALA Notable Book Award and was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award. May is the series editor, graphic designer, and filmmaker for the Organic Weapon Arts Chapbook and Video Series.

February

Poetry off the ShelfCave Canem Legacy Conversation: Toi Derricotte & Cornelius Eady
Thursday, February 8, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady founded Cave Canem Foundation in 1996 to remedy the underrepresentation and isolation of African American poets in the literary landscape. Cave Canem is a home for the many voices of African American poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets. Eady is the author of eight books of poetry, including Hardheaded Weather (2008). Derricotte has published five collections of poetry, most recently The Undertaker’s Daughter (2011).Cosponsored with Cave Canem Foundation

Poetry off the ShelfMai Der Vang
Tuesday, February 13, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Mai Der Vang is the author of Afterland (2017), a powerful collection of poetry that recounts with devastating detail the Hmong exodus from Laos and the fate of thousands of refugees seeking asylum. The collection received a Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. She is currently a visiting writer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Poetry Out LoudPoetry Out Loud City Regionals
Wednesday, February 14, 10:00 AM
Poetry Foundation
Champions from Chicagoland high schools recite classic and contemporary poems for the chance to represent Illinois at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington, DC, in April 2018. Poetry Out Loud encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. Since 2005, Poetry Out Loud has grown to reach more than 3 million students and 50,000 teachers from 10,000 schools in every state, Washington, DC, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Last year, more than 300,000 students around the country competed for more than $100,000 in scholarship awards and school stipends.

The Open Door ReadingsTara Betts & Rachel Galvin
Tuesday, February 20, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
The Library & Gallery are open to the public until 7:00 PM.
The Open Door series presents work from Chicago’s new and emerging poets and highlights the area’s outstanding writing programs. Each hour-long event features readings by two Chicagoland writing program instructors and two of their current or recent students. Tara Betts teaches poetry at Chicago State University, and Rachel Galvin teaches poetry and poetics at the University of Chicago.

Poetry Out LoudPoetry Out Loud Suburban RegionalsWednesday, February 21, 10:00 AMPoetry FoundationChampions from Chicagoland high schools recite classic and contemporary poems for the chance to represent Illinois at the Poetry Out Loud National Finals in Washington, DC, in April 2018. Poetry Out Loud encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. Since 2005, Poetry Out Loud has grown to reach more than 3 million students and 50,000 teachers from 10,000 schools in every state, Washington, DC, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Last year, more than 300,000 students around the country competed for more than $100,000 in scholarship awards and school stipends.

Poetry off the ShelfCantoMundo Authors Amy Sayre Baptista, Natalie Scenters-Zapico, & Jacob Shores-Argüello
Thursday, February 22, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
CantoMundo is a national poetry workshop dedicated to supporting and developing Latinx poets and poetry. Amy Sayre Baptista, a 2013 CantoMundo fellow, is a co-founder of Plates&Poetry, a community arts program focused on food and writing. Her flash fiction chapbook is forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press in Fall 2018. Natalie Scenters-Zapico, a 2015 CantoMundo fellow, is the author of The Verging Cities (2015) and Lima :: Limón, forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press. Jacob Shores-Argüello is the author of In the Absence of Clocks (2012) and Paraíso (2017), which was selected for the inaugural CantoMundo Poetry Prize.Cosponsored with CantoMundo

March

Poetry & ArtEllen Rothenberg, Nathanaël, Judd Morrissey, and Jennifer Scappettone
Thursday, March 1, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
In conjunction with her exhibition ISO 6346: ineluctable immigrant at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, Ellen Rothenberg joins writer and translator Nathanaël, writer and code artist Judd Morrissey, and artist and translator Jennifer Scappettone to present readings, performances, and talks on movement and migration. This presentation, like the exhibition, considers connections between past and contemporary issues of migration.Cosponsored with the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership

The Open Door ReadingsAaron Baker & Laura Goldstein
Tuesday, March 20, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
The Library & Gallery are open to the public until 7:00 PM.
The Open Door series presents work from Chicago’s new and emerging poets and highlights the area’s outstanding writing programs. Each hour-long event features readings by two Chicagoland writing program instructors and two of their current or recent students. Aaron Baker and Laura Goldstein teach poetry at Loyola University Chicago.

Poetry off the ShelfJavier Zamora
Thursday, March 22, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Javier Zamora, a 2016 recipient of the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation, was born in the small El Salvadoran coastal fishing town of La Herradura and immigrated to the United States at the age of nine, joining his parents in California. His chapbook Nueve Años Inmigrantes/Nine Immigrant Years won the 2011 Organic Weapon Arts Contest, and his first poetry collection, Unaccompanied, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2017.Cosponsored with Letra Letinas at the University of Notre Dame Institute for Latino Studies

Poetry off the ShelfJorie Graham
Thursday, March 29, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Jorie Graham is the author of numerous collections of poetry, including From the New World: Poems 1976–2014; Place, which won the Forward Prize in 2012; and The Dream of the Unified Field: Selected Poems 1974–1994, winner of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She served as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 1997 to 2003 and has also edited two anthologies, Earth Took of Earth: 100 Great Poems of the English Language and Best American Poetry 1990. She is the first woman to be named the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University.

April

Poetry & ArtEllen Rothenberg & Cecilia Vicuña
Wednesday, April 4, 6:00 PM
Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership
610 South Michigan Avenue
In conjunction with Ellen Rothenberg’s exhibition ISO 6346: ineluctable immigrant at the Spertus Institute, Cecilia Vicuña presents a series of performances and interventions on movement, migration, and human rights. Vicuña is a poet, an artist, a filmmaker, and an activist whose work often addresses pressing concerns of the modern world, including ecological destruction, human rights, and cultural homogenization. Rothenberg’s exhibition is inspired by objects and documents she uncovered in the Spertus collection and research she pursued in Berlin at Germany’s largest refugee camp, housed in the monumental Tempelhof Airport, a disused site designed and built by the Nazis.Cosponsored with the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership

Poetry off the ShelfDavid Biespiel, Wendy Willis, & Elizabeth Taylor
Thursday, April 5, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
We live in a political era of asking ourselves, “What can I do?” For poets, the first answer is “Write.” Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune literary Editor-at-Large, joins poets David Biespiel and Wendy Willis to discuss the necessity of preserving the sanctity of the inner life and wild imagination as a bulwark against an unimaginative and repressive political climate. Biespiel, president of the Attic Institute of Arts and Letters, is the author of ten books, most recently The Education of a Young Poet (2017). Willis has published two books of poems, including A Long Late Pledge (2017), and is the executive director of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium, a global network devoted to strengthening democratic governance.

CelebrationsChiTeen Lit Fest Preview: Alison A. Ogunmokun
Wednesday, April 11, 6:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
ChiTeen Lit Fest is a for-teens, by-teens gathering that aims to provide a safe, creative space for young adults to discover and unlock their unique voices through literary arts. The Fest brings together young people from across Chicago and celebrates their talents as they express themselves through exceptional and honest art. Writer and comedian Alison A. Ogunmokun kicks off the festival with a preview reading and conversation with the festival headliners and the ChiTeen Lit Fest team at the Poetry Foundation. Ogunmokun is an MFA candidate at the University of California San Diego. Born to Nigerian and Malawian immigrant parents, she writes about the intersection of her often marginalized identities.Cosponsored with ChiTeen Lit Fest, the Chicago Public Library, Columbia College Chicago, the Center for College Access and Success at Northeastern University, and After School Matters
Visit chiteenlitfest.org for schedule of events.

Poetry & MusicKay Ryan & the Apollo Chorus Salon Concert & Conversation
Thursday, April 12, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Pulitzer Prize winner and former US Poet Laureate Kay Ryan joins members of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago and composer Jeff Beal at the Poetry Foundation for a salon reading, concert, and conversation ahead of a full choral performance of Ryan’s poetry at Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston, Illinois. Ryan, who was awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize in 2004 and appointed the Library of Congress's 16th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry in 2008, is the author of many collections of poetry, including Erratic Facts (2015) and the 2011 Pulitzer Prize–winning The Best of It: New and Selected Poems (2010).

CelebrationsChiTeen Lit Fest
Kick-off Party: Friday, April 13, 6:00 PM–10:00 PM
Festival Day: Saturday, April 14, 10:00 AM–6:30 PM
Various Locations
ChiTeen Lit Fest is a for-teens, by-teens gathering that provides a safe, creative space for young adults to discover and unlock their unique voices through literary arts. The Fest brings together young people from across Chicago and celebrates their talents as they express themselves through exceptional and honest art.Cosponsored with ChiTeen Lit Fest, the Chicago Public Library, Columbia College Chicago, the Center for College Access and Success at Northeastern University, and After School Matters
Visit chiteenlitfest.org for schedule of events.

The Open Door ReadingsT Clutch Fleischmann & Marty McConnell
Tuesday, April 17, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
The Library & Gallery are open to the public until 7:00 PM.
The Open Door series presents work from Chicago’s new and emerging poets and highlights the area’s outstanding writing programs. Each hour-long event features readings by two Chicagoland writing program instructors and two of their current or recent students. T Clutch Fleischmann teaches nonfiction at Columbia College Chicago, and Marty McConnell runs the monthly Vox Ferus poetry workshop.

Poetry off the ShelfLingua Franca
Wednesday, April 18, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
The Lingua Franca Spoken Word Movement combines poetry, music, and theater-making elements “in a manner that honours and preserves indigenous musicalities while reimagining an Afro-futuristic sound with a commitment to relevance and provocation.” A South African collective, Lingua Franca fuses spoken-word poetry and music with a commitment to making socially ostracized communities visible through workshops and performances. Lingua Franca performances integrate audience responses and stories in powerful reflections on heritage, indigeneity, and identity.Cosponsored with the Northwestern University Program in African Studies

CelebrationsMiddle Eastern Poetry Festival
Saturday, April 21, 2:00 PM
Poetry FoundationA reception follows the program.
The Iraqi Mutual Aid Society returns for its sixth annual poetry festival. Enjoy the rich tradition of multilingual poems in Arabic and other languages from the Middle East by refugees and immigrants from the cradle of civilization. English translations will be provided.Cosponsored with the Iraqi Mutual Aid Society

Harriet Reading SeriesPatricia Spears Jones & Kimberly Lyons
Thursday, April 26, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
The Harriet Reading Series features talks, performances, and readings by poets who have appeared on Harriet, the Poetry Foundation’s blog. The series presents both established and emerging poets who find innovative approaches to the craft of poetry. Patricia Spears Jones, the author of A Lucent Fire: New and Selected Poems (2015), Painkiller (2010), and Femme du Monde (2006), reads with Kimberly Lyons, the author of Approximately Near (2016), Calcinatio (2014), and Rouge (2013).

Young People’s Poetry DayPoetry & Hope: Margarita Engle
Saturday, April 28, 10:00 AM–1:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Celebrate National Poetry Month with a delightful open house at the Poetry Foundation. This special annual event features a reading by Young People’s Poet Laureate Margarita Engle, refreshments, and a variety of interactive poetry-writing activities and crafts. Cuban-American Margarita Engle is the author of many verse novels, including The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom (2008), a Newbery Honor winner. Her newest picture books are All the Way to Havana and Miguel's Brave Knight: Young Cervantes and His Dream of Don Quixote. This program is free and open to youth and their caregivers.

Poetry off the Shelf Chicago Public Library Poetry Fest: Safia Elhillo & sam sax
Saturday, April 28, 12:30 PM
Reception Hall, Lower Level
Harold Washington Library Center
400 South State Street
Safia Elhillo and sam sax read their poetry at the 19th annual Chicago Public Library Poetry Fest in celebration of National Poetry Month. Elhillo, who has received fellowships from Cave Canem, The Conversation, Crescendo Literary, and the Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Incubator, is the author of The January Children (2017). Sudanese by way of Washington, DC, Elhillo is co-winner of the 2015 Brunel University African Poetry Prize and winner of the 2016 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets. A two-time Bay Area Grand Slam Champion, sax is the author of Madness (2017), winner of the National Poetry Series. His second book, Bury It (2018), won the 2017 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets.Cosponsored with the Chicago Public Library

CelebrationsPoesía en Abril: Carlos Germán Belli & Homero Aridjis
Saturday, April 28, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Carlos Germán Belli is a Peruvian poet noted for his unique blend of precise classical expression and contemporary themes. He won Peru’s National Literature Prize and the Pablo Neruda Ibero-American Poetry Prize in 2006 and was nominated for a Nobel Prize in 2007. Homero Aridjis is a Mexican poet, a novelist, an environmental activist, a journalist, and a diplomat known for his rich imagination, poetry of lyrical beauty, and ethical independence. Winner of a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship, Aridjis was named Doctor Honoris Causa by Indiana University. His poetry, says Juan Rulfo, “is a symbol of love.”Cosponsored with contratiempo and DePaul University

Poetry off the ShelfMaggie Nelson
Monday, April 30, 6:00 PM
Rubloff Auditorium
The Art Institute of Chicago
230 South Columbus Drive
Poet, scholar, and nonfiction writer Maggie Nelson earned a PhD in English literature at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Her work is often described as genre crossing or hybrid; Nelson’s book Bluets (2009) is perhaps her most well-known work of scholarship and poetry. Her other collections of poetry include Something Bright, Then Holes (2007); Jane: A Murder (2005); The Latest Winter (2003); and Shiner (2001), a finalist for a Norma Farber First Book Award. Her genre-bending memoir The Argonauts (2015) was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award.Presented in partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Visiting Artists Program and Writing Program

May

Poetry off the ShelfMark Doty & Rafael Campo
Thursday, May 10, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Mark Doty is the author of nine books of poetry, including Deep Lane (2015); Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems, which won the 2008 National Book Award; and My Alexandria, winner of a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a National Book Critics Circle Award, and a T.S. Eliot Prize in the United Kingdom. Dr. Rafael Campo teaches and practices medicine at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The author of eight books of poetry, most recently Alternative Medicine (2013), Campo has a new and selected volume, Comfort Measures Only, which will be published by Duke University Press this year. His awards include the 2013 Hippocrates Open International Prize, one of the world’s highest-value awards for a single poem, for original verse that addresses a medical theme.

CelebrationsHippocrates Prize Reading
Friday, May 11, 4:00 PM
Poetry FoundationA reception follows the program.
The Hippocrates Initiative for Poetry and Medicine began in 2009 as the Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine for an unpublished poem on a medical subject. The Hippocrates Initiative now also includes the international Hippocrates Society for Poetry and Medicine, the Hippocrates Press, annual international symposia, an international research forum for poetry and medicine, and workshops. Since its launch in 2009, the annual Hippocrates Prize has attracted thousands of entries from more than 60 countries.Cosponsored with the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine and the Hippocrates Initiative for Poetry and Medicine

The Open Door ReadingsDuriel E. Harris & Valerie Wallace
Tuesday, May 15, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
The Library & Gallery are open to the public until 7:00 PM.
The Open Door series presents work from Chicago’s new and emerging poets and highlights the area’s outstanding writing programs. Each hour-long event features readings by two Chicagoland writing program instructors and two of their current or recent students. Duriel E. Harris teaches poetry at Illinois State University, and Valerie Wallace teaches at City Colleges of Chicago and the Newberry Library.

Poetry off the ShelfGhost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology
Thursday, May 24, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
A gathering of poetry at the intersection of culture, social justice, and the environment, Ghost Fishing is the first anthology to focus solely on poetry with an eco-justice bent. As a new addition to the field of nature poetry anthologies, which have historically lacked diversity, this book presents a rich terrain of contemporary environmental poetry with roots in many cultural traditions. Anthology contributors, including Tara Betts, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Elise Paschen, Matthew Shenoda, and 2016 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize winner Ed Roberson, join Ghost Fishing editor Melissa Tuckey and Split This Rock executive director Sarah Browning for a reading and discussion about the book.

CelebrationsHands on Stanzas
Wednesday, May 30, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
Join us in celebrating student poets ages 8–14 at the Hands on Stanzas year-end All Schools Reading celebration. Hands on Stanzas is a residency program of the Poetry Center of Chicago, which hires Chicago poets as teaching artists. Under their guidance, students read and write poetry and publish their work on the Poetry Center's blogs. Poets-in-Residence select one student representative from each class to read an original poem at the Poetry Foundation.Cosponsored with the Poetry Center of Chicago

Poetry & MusicZafa Collective
Thursday, May 31, 7:00 PM
Poetry Foundation
The Zafa Collective is a Chicago-based new music ensemble formed upon the idea that classical music should be inclusive and accessible in both programming and performance. The group presents programs with diverse aesthetics, seeking to make contemporary music accessible and appealing to the widest possible audience. Zafa is excited to present a program of works inspired by poetry and prose from throughout history, including pieces by Missy Mazzoli, Augusta Read Thomas, Toru Takemitsu, Iannis Xenakis, Daniel Temkin, and Tonia Ko.

In the Gallery

Ava Kadishson Schieber: here i am
January 10–March 28, 2018
This exhibition highlights the work and life of poet and artist Ava Kadishson Schieber. She was born Jewish in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, in 1926 and survived the Shoah in hiding. Throughout her life, she has created work in many different mediums; this exhibition focuses on her poems and illustrations along with personal items that illuminate the evolution of her art alongside historical events. She is the author of Present Past (2016) and Soundless Roar (2002), both multi-genre collections published by Northwestern University Press.

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About the Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, is an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. It exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry through innovative literary prizes and programs. For more information, please visit poetryfoundation.org.